East

"Good night, Moonbeam," he returned softly. He rolled onto his other side and pressed his back to mine. "We named you Moonbeam. Do you have a different name in your world?"

"Yes."

"What is it?"

I hesitated. My old mantra of not getting attached no longer mattered now that I was stuck here. I stared at the felt wall a few inches in front of my eyes. I now had confirmation of the mutual attraction between us. But I didn't know what to do about it. It seemed dangerous if there was emotion complicating our protector-goddess relationship.

I shouldn't tell him my real name or encourage the bond between us.

But … I did. It only seemed fair after all he'd done for me. "Josie."

"It is a peculiar name."

"No more peculiar than Batu would be in my world." I smiled. I liked Batu - a lot more than I should.

I also couldn't help thinking of Taylor once more. While it was true we were married for mere days, and he was dead, I experienced a flare of guilt at kissing Batu when I didn't feel over Taylor yet. It was more than the guilt of him being uncreated; this felt more like I was cheating on his memory.

In truth, I didn't know what I owed him. He had made my life better while I was in the Old West and helped me cope. In turn, I helped make him cease to exist.

I don't want that to happen to Batu. Maybe this was what bothered me most. I cared about Taylor and lost him. I cared about Batu, too, and didn't think I could go through such loss again.